Spotlight across the crowd

Last week, a friend that had access to free tickets through volunteer work he was doing offered to invite me to a concert. He wasn’t necessarily a fan of the groups that were coming, but, well, as mentioned, it was free. I accepted, naturally, and made my way over at the appointed time.

These waiting children would only be disappointed when the picture event was cancelled.

First, he explained, was “picture taking time,” that is, where fans would get a chance to get their picture taken with the singers et al. His role was to keep the small crowd from pressing forward, and I just tagged along and tried to shoot pictures under some of the worst light you’ve ever seen. If these shots seem a little noisy–it’s because I had to lighten them. Although there were lights just inside, where people were actually standing/waiting there was nothing at all.

On the Radio

Anyway, the crowd was soon disappointed when the pop stars cancelled the picture event, citing lack of organization. The children actually seemed to take it pretty well–no one seemed to cry, or get angry, etc–they were just quietly led away. On the other hand, one middle-aged woman in particular was outraged and was shouting at anyone she had an excuse to–my friend, when he tried to calm her down, and even at me a little. In the end we just left them to deal with it.

The concert itself–Well, it was ‘interesting’ (read: a bit strange), but I can’t compare it to American ones. This was my first trip to a concert ever, so I don’t have over experiences for it to go up against. The music, while loud, wasn’t earsplitting. On the other hand, the screaming of the fans was–I covered my ears, my friend didn’t and later told me they still hurt after the concert. Many of those people have to have shouted themselves hoarse but, another thing he pointed out, it’s a mark of pride here, a way of showing your loyalty to whatever it is you’re a fan of.

 

Fans at the concert

 

 

Here’s a short sample video clip I took. It was really more of a test of some special video firmware for my camera and, naturally, the sound quality sucks, but if you’re interested here you go. Concert Clip

The Costs of Living in Korea

 

Scooters for sale

 

 

The other day I went with a friend to pick up his scooter at the repair shop. When I asked about the prices involved, I was shocked about what he was paying. While in Provo I got my first (brand new) 150cc Chinese scooter for $700, he payed $500 for a heavily used one, a mere 50cc’er (top speed of about 23mph/37kph). The repair bill would run him another $400. When I asked him about the price of a 150cc here, he estimated around $2000. Ouch!

Engine problems

 

 

Is it cheaper or more expensive than the US? Well, as it turns out, a bit of both. In the end, I’d have to say the overall cost is higher, but there are ways to economize and knock it down a bit. Same with Japan, really, but also like Japan, it doesn’t change that it’s a pretty expensive place overall.

Transmission problems

 

Real Estate: If you want to actually live here and, say, get a condo–absurdly expensive. Quickly goes above $1 million. Renting’s not cheap either. However, on the lower end of the scale–You can get a room for pretty cheap. They’re tiny, but you can find rooms for a bit cheaper than Provo might cost. (Right now I’m paying 32만원 or ~$320/mo). Provo’s certainly cheaper during the summer but it’s not terrible really.

Exit 6

 

Groceries and Food: Well if you’re OK with living on purely rice and maybe one or two very simple sides, you can do it for cheaper than the US (but you could do the same thing in the US too haha). Generally, though, the portions are much smaller. And normally, I would like that–less waste if I don’t use something fast enough. But instead of smaller prices, it’s actually more expensive than the States. Even things you’d think would be cheaper, like the cup noodles available at every convenience store here, are marginally more costly. Incidentally you cannot buy milk/drinks/juice in any size larger than 1.5L, and milk not even that much at a time. A shame because I usually buy and drink milk by the gallon…

Tuition: Here Korea wins out over the US. Maybe they don’t have guaranteed loans, so the schools can’t simply ask any price and get it? In any case, it’s substantially less than Stateside, by like 40% at least.

Vehicles & Gasoline: Substantially more expensive in Korea, as with the above about scooters.

Taxis and Public Transit: Once again Korea wins out. If you want to take a taxi (something I’ve only needed to do at the behest of the BYU program’s professor), it won’t cost you much. And as I’ve said before, Korea’s got a fantastic public transit system. Using rail alone I’ve been able to cross from one edge of the country to the other more than once already, buses will take you to the more outlying areas, and it’s all very cheap. The base cost of the subway is $.90, with another $.10 added on for every certain number of kilometers you travel and maxing out at $1.90. My two-hour-each-way commute of my first two weeks here ran me $3.80 per day, which is far cheaper than a car’s gas would cost even in good times. Nevermind car insurance, maintenance, etc.

 

The Subway Runs on Windows XP

Though I can’t really hold this against Korea, the bank fees can really mount. I found out mine charges not only a flat foreign ATM fee, but also a portion of the balance withdrawn. I’ve lost probably about $150, maybe more, to these fees already. And a ticket to Japan on the jet ferry, in better times, would have run $260; it costed me $325 thanks to the exchange rate. All in all, my trip’s run a bit overbudget… :S

 

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